 A stranger running through private yards
or alleyways.
 A stranger sitting in a car or stopping to
talk to a child.
 Abandoned cars.
Don’t investigate these problems on your
own! Report these incidents to the police.
Alert neighbors of such situations.
Developing Citizen Awareness
Periodic meetings of your Neighborhood
Watch group should be used to develop
programs to heighten citizen awareness of
and proper response to suspected or actual
criminal activity. Speakers from law
enforcement as well as from a wide range
of community organizations can address
such topics as:
 Recognizing suspicious activity and
learning how to report it.
 Organizing victim assistance programs.
 Establishing “safe houses” for children in
trouble.
 Developing neighborhood “youth escort
services” that can accompany older people
and children on errands.
 Organizing a “Crime Stoppers” program
that allows individual to offer information on
crimes, anonymously.
 Publishing a Neighborhood Watch
newsletter with security tips and updates.
EMERGENCY
POLICE, FIRE & EMS DIAL 911
CITY OF CLEVELAND
NEIGHBORHOOD POLICE
DISTRICTS
First District
th
3895 W. 130 Street
216/623-5105
Second District
3841 Fulton Rd.
216-623-5205
Third District
10600 Chester Avenue
216/623-5305
Fourth District
9333 Kinsman Road
216/623-5405
Fifth District
nd
881 E. 152 Street
216/623-5505
CLEVELAND DIVISION OF POLICE
COMMUNITY RELATIONS UNIT
2001 Payne Avenue
CLEVELAND, OH 44114
216/623-5080
Anyone can be a victim of burglary or other
crimes. Despite our best precautions, we
often feel alone and vulnerable to crime. But
there is a vital protection tool available –
something residents in a community can do
be banding together, in connection with
local law enforcement agencies, to prevent
crime before it happens.
The Neighborhood Watch Program
Here’s a community-based program that’s
been proven to deter crime. Thousands of
these programs have been developed
around the country, breaking down the
isolation of neighbors as they work together
and with law enforcement officers. It is a
remarkably successful anti-crime effort, as
participants work together as a true
community-neighbor looking out for
neighbor.
 Any community resident can take partyoung and old, single and married, renter
and home owner.
 A few concerned residents, a community
organization, or a law enforcement agency
can spearhead the effort to organize a
Neighborhood Watch.
 Members learn how to make their homes
more secure, watch out for each other and
the neighborhood, and report activities that
raise suspicions to the police.
 You can form a Neighborhood Watch
group around any geographical unit: a
block, apartment building, park, business
area, housing complex or office.
 Watch groups are not vigilantes. They
are extra eyes and ears for reporting crimes
and helping neighbors.
How to get Started
 Neighborhood Watch helps build pride
and serves as a springboard for efforts that
address other community concerns, such as
recreation for youth, child care, and
affordable housing.
Many of your neighbors may wish that a
program like Neighborhood Watch already
existed in their area, but don’t know how to
start one. They may not realize just how
simple it is.
If you don’t start a Neighborhood Watch
program in your area, perhaps no one will.
But once you take these first simple steps,
you may be amazed at how easy it is to
organize the program and what a difference
it will make.
 Form a small planning committee. Decide
on a date and place for an initial
neighborhood meeting.
 Contact the Bureau of Community
Policing 623-5080. Request that a crime
prevention officer come to your meeting to
discuss your community’s problems and
needs.
Getting Organized
 Contact as many of your neighbors as
possible and ask them if they would be
willing to meet to organize a Neighborhood
Watch group in your area.
Once your program is beginning to get
under way, there are several concrete steps
you should take to make the organization
solid and successful:
 Contact the Bureau of Community
Policing for help in training members in
home security and reporting skills, and for
information on local crime patterns.
 Select a Neighborhood Watch
coordinator and block captains who are
responsible for organizing meetings and
relaying information to members.
 Recruit new members, keep up-to-date
on new residents, and make special efforts
to involve the elderly, working parents, and
young people.
 Work with local law enforcement to put
up highly visible Neighborhood Watch signs
and decals. These alert criminals that
community members all watch and report
their activities – often, this is enough to
discourage them!
 Work with police to organize citizen
patrols, on foot or in vehicles, to monitor
certain areas at assigned times and shifts.
Lost children, stranded motorists, stray
dogs, damaged street signs or traffic signals
and auto accidents are often discovered by
citizen patrols.
Neighbors Look for….
 Screaming or shouting for help.
 Someone looking into windows of houses
or parked cars.
 Unusual noises.
 Property being taken out of houses or
buildings where no one is at home, or the
business is closed.
 Cars, vans, or trucks moving slowly with
no lights or apparent destination.
 Anyone being forced into a vehicle.